Although the health industry has improved regarding women’s inclusion and representation globally, there are still a lot of issues on the continent and across the diaspora.

In the Diversity In Medicine: Fact and Figures 2019 report, only 8.4% of USA medical school applicants were Black or African American, compared to 46.8% who were white.

This is also an issue on the continent. A World Health Organization (WHO) global analysis report illustrated that only 28% of physicians and nurses in Africa are women. Moreover, Africa has the lowest number of female doctors and nurses across the globe.

This list of African American female doctors spotlights the innovators in the field of medicine and health who have made remarkable strides in the industry for Black people.

Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler

Physician

Discrimination and prejudice prevented African Americans from pursuing careers in medicine, so for eight years, Crumpler practised as a nurse, without any formal training. In 1860, she attended the New England Female Medical College, and graduated four years later, becoming the first African American woman to earn an M.D degree in 1864.

Her book, “Book of Medical Discourses”, published in 1883 was one of the first medical books written by an African American person. Dedicated to nurses and mothers, the book covered prevention and cures of infantile bowel complaints, and the development of human beings.

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Dr. Alexa Canady

Paediatric Neurosurgeon

Dr. Canady was the first Black woman to become a board-certified neurosurgeon in the United States of America. This came 20 years after Dr. Ruth Kerr Jakoby became the first female Diplomate of the American Board of Neurological Surgery in 1961.

Many obstacles stood in Canady’s way as a Black woman in America at the time. Her intelligence was often questioned, but her passion for medicine was the driving force that led her to become a pioneer in her field. 

She was the Chief of Neurosurgery at the Children's Hospital of Michigan in 1987 until her partial retirement in 2001. She received many accolades during her remarkable career including the American Medical Women's Association President's Award in 1993 and the Distinguished Service Award from Wayne State University Medical School in 1994.

Today, she is still a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Society of Paediatric Neurosurgery, and the American College of Neurosurgery.

Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith

Physician 

This stems from her years of research in how social and economic disparities put the health of Black people at risk.

Nunez-Smith is the professor of medicine and epidemiology and serves as the inaugural Associate Dean for Health Equity at Yale University.

She also founded and directs Yale’s Equity Research and Innovation Centre. Furthermore, she works on a research collaborative funded by the National Institutes of Health to study chronic disease in Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and the United States Virgin Islands.

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Dr. Elizabeth Ofili

Cardiologist 

Once she was board certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular diseases, Dr. Ofili became the professor of medicine and chief of the section of cardiology at the Morehouse School of Medicine in 1999. She was also the director and principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Research Centre at Morehouse. This role gave her further opportunities to seek and receive extensive funding to develop and expand the university's research framework. 

As a thorough cardiology researcher, Ofili became recognized for her expertise in the field of echocardiography — the use of sound waves to study the heart and how it functions. One of her areas of interest is in the cardiac functioning and heart disease in African Americans. Through her work in the African American Heart Failure Trial, she substantially changed guidelines on heart failure treatment for African Americans. 

She also conducted research for NASA’s Space Medicine and Life Sciences Research Centre, where she studied the effects of microgravity on the vascular system. Overall, Ofili has conducted over 400 scientific presentations, and published over 100 scientific papers on hypertension, dyslipidemia, heart failure, and coronary artery disease.

In 2000, she became the first woman president of the Association of Black Cardiologists.

Dr. Patrice Harris

Psychiatrist

Initially, Dr. Harris wanted to be a paediatrician, however the functioning of the human brain captivated her. After achieving her medical degree and Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology between 1982 and 1992, she began her residency at Emory University Hospital. She then launched her private practice in Adult, Child, Adolescent, and Forensic Psychiatry. 

She has gone on to use her expertise for public service and advocacy. From 2001 to 2003, she worked as the senior policy fellow and lobbyist for the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic. There, she worked alongside the Child Protective Services to build the clinic's capacity to act as a lead agency in protecting children from abuse and neglect. In 2005, Harris became the medical director of the Department of Behavioural Health and Developmental Disabilities, where she drove efforts to integrate public health, behavioural health, and primary care services. 

As an active member of the American Medical Association (AMA), Harris has worked on several task forces. In 2014, she helped identify the best practices to combat the opioid epidemic as the chair of the AMA Opioid Task Force. Later in 2018, she became the first African American woman to be elected as president of the AMA.